New Military Technology

Warlock Green functions very much likeSEPS, with a core transceiver that monitors across communications frequencies,from the 900 MHz of Iraq’s GSM mobilephone network recently installed in Iraqdown to signals used by garage dooropeners (288 to 418 MHz). The system,mounted directly to a military vehicle, requires 24 Volts, DC.

When the detector senses a potentialthreatsay a cell phone powering onitcues the interference subsystem, whichjams the bomb’s receiver/detonator.Warlock Green systems, the more sophisticated and expensive of the two, costabout $90,000 each. The Army hasbought roughly 300 so far.

The Army has also taken delivery ofabout 1,200 Warlock Red systems at$12,000 a piece. As the more basic units,these may not have receivers at all. Eachdraws 12 Volts, DC from a vehicle’s cigarette lighter and is probably activated bythe driver upon approaching a suspiciousvehicle or object by the side of the road.Because insurgents have employed a widevariety of RF detonators, both systems arevery likely field reprogrammable so technicians can adapt them as newthreats appear.

The Warlocks are the most talked-about IED jammers in Iraq, but they’re notthe only ones. In March, the Army’s vicechief of staff revealed that his service isbuying 8,000 IED jammers for Iraq.These are just part of a broader IED-defeating strategy that includes bettertraining for soldiers deploying to Iraq,more vehicle armor, development of avariety of IED sensors, and new IED-neutralizing technology. Continued…

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